Did you know that there are 7,289 published magazines in the United States alone? Never have we had so many options in auxiliary reading material! With all the choices, it can be difficult to select a magazine subscription that is right for you, however, there are a few pointers that you can keep in mind to narrow down your choices and to ensure a happy reading experience.
In this article I share 5 characteristics of a good magazine, journal or periodical. Be sure to subscribe to be automatically entered to win FREE tea/books/stuff during Tea End Blog Give-Aways. Already subscribed? Tell a friend!
5 Characteristics of a Good Magazine...
Encouraging Anything that you do for leisure should leave you feeling positive and up-built, after all, our leisure time is supposed to rejuvenate our energy in preparation for life’s harder tasks. Instead of feeling weighed down, overly concerned or even sad you will want to subscribe to a magazine that makes you feel at ease, informed and joyful.
Edifying After reading an article or magazine, you should feel as though your knowledge has been tuned. Perhaps you learned how to score a deal on a new pair of shoes or maybe how to refurbish that old chair. The point is: You learned something new. It takes time to read a magazine and if at the end of the reading you don’t feel like you’ve learned anything, you may also feel like your time was wasted.
Inspiring This characteristic is similar to ‘Encouraging’ but has the added component of action. Being encouraged can stop at a feeling of contentment and joy whereas being inspired requires action. A magazine should move you to do something; perhaps to make that cornbread recipe or to try a different hair color. If a magazine inspires you to take the words off the page and turn them into achievement, then you have yourself a good read.
Practical Have you ever thumbed through a magazine desperately searching for information that you could use? It is very disappointing when the fashion isn’t within your budget, the recipes don’t match your diet, and/or the travel suggestions are too vague to plan your next trip. Your magazine subscriptions should be useful to you and your lifestyle and you should be able to easily see how the information can be applied in your personal life.
Simple Let’s face it, even we tea sipping bookworms have difficulty finding time to read all the literature that interests us. Who has the time to read a magazine that is edited like a novel? Your magazine subscriptions should be simple and to the point. A magazine should be filled with beautiful pictures and fewer words since, today, most people process information through imagery.
Before you even commit to a magazine subscription, you may want to purchase a single magazine and use the above pointers to decide if the magazine is one from which you will truly benefit. I like to use accumulated points from my American Airlines Membership to subscribe to new magazines; in this way, I can truly decide if a magazine is right for me with no added expense to my pocket-book.
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What is your favorite magazine subscription?